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The following article is a first-person recreation of a real-life scenario that I was blessed to witness and couldn’t stop myself from putting it on the blog

I wanted to eat something. It’s been a couple of months since shifting that I got to eat something unhealthy viz fast food. Sounds creepy?! Not to someone (ME), for whom evenings meant KFC and weekends spelled B-I-R-I-Y-A-N-I. After some proper research, I set my eyes on a particular fast food joint (truck), which was famous for its rolls and momos.

On one fine Saturday, after wrapping things up at work, I dashed to the joint to avoid the queue, and boy/girl, I was on cloud nine when the mouth-watering aroma filled the air and the sound of splashing oil was no less than a classical Beethoven symphony. I placed my order and waited patiently when I felt a tug on my jacket.

I ignored it at first, but another tug and I turned around to find a little angel, with a heartwarming smile, along with a cute puppy at her heels looking at me hopefully, but what shook me to the core was what lay beneath her hopeful eyes – hunger and despair fueled by poverty. A volley of emotions hit me & I was slapped with the ugly reality of mankind viz. poverty.

As I was struggling to come to terms with the mojito of emotions, the order was served. I sat at a table and invited the girl, Mina, and her puppy, Rina ( poetic, right?!) to join me. Despite being hungry for days, Mina held her composure and seemed to be enjoying every bite she took, as I remembered a quote by Israelmore Ayivor –

To a hungry person, every bitter food is sweet. When the preferable is not available, the available becomes preferable!”

–Israelmore Ayivor